


on the run

by orphan_account



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: F/M, an au because this would never happen, kinda thoschei but also not, set after the fugitive of the judoon episode
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-24
Updated: 2020-03-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:53:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22881304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: the doctor and fam go on an adventure to find the master.
Relationships: Thirteenth Doctor & Yasmin Khan & Graham O'Brien & Ryan Sinclair, Thirteenth Doctor/The Master (Dhawan)
Comments: 27
Kudos: 115





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> set after the fugitive of the judoon episode so the doc doesn't know all the stuff about the timeless child

“She’s looking for him again.” Ryan said in a low voice, as the Doctor danced around the controls of the TARDIS. 

It seemed to be all she did, pressing buttons and pulling levers every so often, staring at screes and holograms. Her whole demeanour had changed from the smiley, happy Doctor they met on the train in Sheffield to a quiet, reserved Doctor who spent all of her time looking for someone she’d banished to another dimension, supposedly forever.

“I ain’t got a single clue why. As far as I’m concerned the bloke’s a complete nutjob who don’t deserve saving. Not after all he did with Barton and the Kasaavin.” Graham replied.

“Well we know they’ve got some sorta history. The Master said so himself.” Yaz pondered. “And if they didn’t she wouldn’t be going to all this trouble to save him. But surely there’s a better reason than that?”

“I can hear you lot talking about me.” The Doctor said, not turning around.

“Then you know we’re worried about you.” Yaz replied. “Usually you’re all smiles but nowadays you seem really down in the dumps.”

“I told you, I’m fine! Don’t worry about me. I’m fine!”

Her friends shared a look. The more she tried to convince them she’s ‘fine’ the more they’re convinced she isn’t.

“You’re a terrible liar. And we just don’t understand why you got rid of the Master in the first place because you spend all your time now try’na look for him.” Graham said.

“I’m fine.” The Doc persisted. “He just did something. Something personal, that I can’t seem to get my head around and something difficult to explain.” She replied, in a small voice. The Master’s confession still sat in her pocket, a constant reminder of what pain and destruction he’d brought to the place she once called home.

 _Nice way of stopping them ask questions._ She thought to herself.

She couldn’t stop them though, they were an inquisitive bunch. Whenever they asked how much sleep she’d gotten, why she was tracking the Master or what the message he’d left her said she’d be quick to offer a trip to some interesting planet or world event. 

Most of the time she was unsure of whether she was trying stop the others asking questions or to distract herself from her failures at finding him.

The fam noticed her change of behaviour and mindset early on, but hoped it was just some kind of mood swing and would quickly pass. They’d gotten used to not having answers to all their questions.

“You know we don’t mind if you ever want to rant and rave at us or get something off your chest.” Graham said, offering her a hobnob. “That’s what friends are for.”

“Family.” Yaz corrected.  
  
“Yeah! We might not understand how to fly a time and space machine or stop an alien invasion but together we’ve been through a lot. And we want to help you because you’ve helped us.”

The Doctor stopped what she was doing and smiled.

“I can’t help but feel like he’s gone too far this time.” She said in a small voice, leaning against the console. “I need to find him. He can’t run from me forever.”

“Maybe you’re looking for the wrong thing.” Ryan said, thinking out loud. “Like maybe you shouldn’t be searching for him directly but something you can link to him.”

“Ryan, you are brilliant!” The Doctor exclaimed, rushing over to the controls.

“I guess you learnt some spy tricks after all eh?” Graham teased, patting him on the head.

“Ah ha!” The Doctor exclaimed after a few minutes of fiddling. 

“Have you found something?” Yaz asks.

“Traces of artron energy.” 

Her friends gather around her, staring at the screen. A small display of coordinates popped up, showing the traces somewhere in the UK.

“He’s not in Sheffield is he?” Graham asked, slightly nervously. His home town had had enough alien species invading it recently and the last thing it needed was a madman on the loose. 

“Can you not read maps Graham?” Ryan teased, smiling. "The TARDIS reckons he's in the Lake District."

“I’ve never been to the Lakes. So even if we don’t find anything we can still have a relaxing afternoon somewhere. Preferably in a café.” Graham said, rubbing his hands together hungrily.

“Maybe we should check it out? Even if it isn’t him it could still be someone who shouldn’t be there. And it can’t hurt to look.” Yaz asked.

“When it comes down to the Master, I’m never really sure of anything.”


	2. Chapter 2

“This seems to be where the signals are coming from.” The Doctor said, stopping in front of a small café at the end of a narrow street.

“Doe Street Café.” Graham read. “Maybe he’s in the mood for a bacon sarnie. I can relate to that.”

“You can’t seriously be hungry again.”

“I keep telling you, I ain’t got the stomach for all this time travel malarkey.” Graham huffed. “You can never really tell what time it is and I need regular nourishment.”

The Doctor pulled her sonic out of her pocket and scanned around the entrance.

“Seems nothing other than those artron energy traces here.” She said, checking the reading. “Maybe we should grab a quick cuppa, just to check everything’s in order.”

Graham’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. He pushed open the door to the café and the sweet smell of baked pastries wafted around them.

“You guys go ahead, order yourself whatever you want. I’m just gonna have a quick look out here.” The Doctor said, sonic-ing around the rest of the street.

“I’ll get you a cup of tea.” Yaz said.

As soon as the door shut behind her the Doctor shut her eyes and searched for her friend’s mind.

 _Contact_.

She strained and strained until she gave herself a migraine. There was no sign. 

When the Doctor finally admitted defeat, the café was almost empty. A strange occurrence for 1 o’clock on a Wednesday afternoon. 

“Find anything?” Ryan asked as she sat down.

“Nope. The sonic’s not picked up anything out of the ordinary.” She slumped back in her seat and sighed.

“Well we can’t give up hope now Doc!” Graham exclaimed. “Plus I’ve just ordered myself some food so it’d be a waste to leave now….”

As if on cue, a young waitress arrived at the table with the biggest bacon sandwich the Doctor had ever seen.

“Ohh tar love that looks incredible.” Graham said, sounding extremely cockney in his excitement.

“Your very welcome. Are you guys new here? I’ve not seen you around before. And we don’t usually get tourists in this part of town.”

“We were just passing through. I’m Graham, and this is Ryan and Yaz.” Graham said. He was a people person, always had and always will be. That’s likely why he made such a good bus driver, always greeting passengers with a smile and a kind word or two.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Cece.”

The Doctor reached for her sonic and scanned her under the table. 

_Definitely human._ She thought. _No problem with being friendly then._

“Hi Cece, I’m the D-“

“This is Sarah.” Yaz interjected.

“This might be a bit of a strange question, but have you seen anything weird around here lately? Anything that seems out of place?” The Doctor asked, taking a large slurp of her tea and glancing at Yaz.

“No, everything’s been normal. If there is such a thing.” She replied, chuckling slightly. “Can I get you anything else?”

“Well since you’re asking I do fancy some beans on toast.” Graham said, smiling greedily.

“It’s on the house. I’ll bring it right over.” Cece laughed, scribbling the order down in her notebook and heading to the counter.

“Who’s Sarah then?” Ryan asked once she was out of earshot.

“Best to keep a low profile if the Master is in the area.” Yaz whispered.

“Good idea. Top spy trick that is. Learnt it on YouTube.”

“Can you hear that?” The Doctor asked suddenly, her senses heightening. “No not hear, feel. Can you feel that?”

The fam looked around the now empty café.

“What do you mean? There’s nothing and no one here.”

The back door swung open violently and another young waitress rushed through, a scared expression written across her face.

“Cece come quick, Mrs Jenkins is in trouble.”

“You guys wait here.” The Doctor said, slipping out of her seat and following the two girls before the fam could stop her.

She followed them into the back room where an old lady sat on the floor, hunched over against the wall. All the colour had drained from her face, giving her the look of a ghost.

“What’s wrong with her?” Cece breathed.

“I don’t know! She was going to get the money out of the till to put away then she just sort of keeled over. We have to call an ambulance.”

“Wait, not yet. I can help her I’m a Doctor.” The Doctor said, crouching down in front of her and checking her pulse. 

The old woman stood up at the Doctor’s touch and robotically walked over to the desk, as though she had been possessed. She picked up a pen and paper and started writing in neat swirls, muttering another language under her breath.

They watched her quietly until she was finished, before she dropped the pen and then dissolved into thin air.

“Oh my God.” The waitress whispered. "What just happened?"

The Doctor grabbed the piece of paper and studied it carefully. What appeared to be written on it was coordinates, and a message that almost stopped both her hearts.

“Hello? Everything okay in here?” The door opened and Yaz, Graham and Ryan walked in, surprised to see what chaos awaited them.

“We’re not safe here.” The Doctor said, folding up the paper and putting it in her pocket. “We need to leave. Now.”

“What about us?” Cece asked.

“All will be explained. Right now you two need to come with us. I'm the Doctor, this is Ryan, Graham and Yaz.”

"I'm Evie." The other waitress said, looking shell-shocked. "I'll just lock up."


	3. Chapter 3

They ran out of the café and down the small winding roads that lead them to where the TARDIS was parked. Thankfully it was still there, just as they’d left it.

“You want us all to get in there?” Evie asked, confused. “Together? We’d never fit.”

“I promise you’ll be safe in there. But you need to be quick.” The Doctor said, scrambling through her pockets looking for the key. She eventually found it and pushed open the doors, motioning for the others to follow her.

The two waitresses followed her inside and just about got the shock of their life.

“This place is crazy. I’ve never seen anything like it.” Evie breathed, wandering around the TARDIS in a daze. 

“I know. But right now we need to get out of here. Grab on to something and hold on tight.”

The TARDIS wheezed to life, jolting violently about as it dematerialized and sped through space.

“Before Mrs Jackson disappeared she wrote this down.” She slammed it on the control desk. “They’re the coordinates where the Master is.”

“Great! Let’s go get him then!” Ryan said, a little to energetically.

“But, from what I’ve been able to decipher from them, is that it’s a trap. The coordinates are real and an actual place somewhere, but this message is written in Gallifreyan and the only two time lords left are me and the Master.”

“Meaning he must have wrote it.” Yaz finished, aspirated.

“I’m sorry, what’s happening here?” Cece asked. “Who’s the Master? What’s on the paper? And what the heck is this thing we’re in.”

“I’m the Doctor. These are my mates Yaz, Graham and Ryan. We travel through space and time in this thing, which is called a TARDIS and is basically a time machine. The Master was one of my oldest friends but he went crazy after he left our home planet Gallifrey and did a bunch of stupid, crazy things before doing one thing that’s completely unforgiveable but I can’t tell you. Last time we met him we managed to exile him to another dimension but it seems he’s escaped and is causing havoc again. I want to find him so I can ask him about the thing I can’t tell you and to prevent him from doing anything else stupid.” 

Evie and Cece starred at her for a minute, blinking in confusion.

“Okayyy.” Cece said slowly. “But what does any of that have to do with us?”

“I traced signals of artron energy to the café you were working in. Artron energy is emitted from machines like the TARDIS and it’s very trackable. But I scanned both of you and neither of you are the Master.” She said, a million thoughts running through her head. “Mrs Jackson wrote down some coordinates before she disappeared along with a message in the language of my home planet. But the problem is, is that the only two time lords left are me and the Master, so only he could’ve written it.”

The Doctor fell back in her chair, sighing. There we’re a million possible outcomes and a million more possible threats to her friends, new and old.

“But if you think he wrote this, isn’t that a good thing?” Cece asked, picking up the paper.

“What makes you say that?”

“Well, that means he wants you to find him. He’s given you his location and a personal note so surely that means he knows you’re looking for him? Maybe he wants you to find him.”

“She’s got a point Doc.” Graham said. “Maybe we should check it out. And if it’s something we or you don’t wanna get involved in we can leave.”

The Doctor nodded, taking the paper and rigging the TARDIS to take them to the coordinates.

“Your right. What’s the worst that can happen?” She replied, forcing a smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm kind of struggling with this at the moment, i've pretty much forgotten everything i wanted to happen so updates may not be that often :(


	4. Chapter 4

The Doctor wandered around the TARDIS control room, a million thoughts racing through her head all at once.

Her human friends had retired to bed, tired out after everything the day had put them through.

_What’s wrong Doctor? Your pets decided to dump you again?_

The Doctor turned around so fast she almost got whiplash.

“Who’s there?” She asked out loud, her voice sounding weak in the silence.

_You know who I am Doctor, stop making a fool of yourself. If that’s even possible for you._

_What do you want, Master?_ She said, sending the message through her mind into his.

_Just checking in, making sure you’re not coming close to finding me. Or maybe I just wanted to hear from you. Been a while hasn't it?_

_So what am I? Your booty call? I think that’s what the kids call it nowadays._

_You flatter yourself too much Doctor. I wouldn’t sleep with you if we were the last two Time Lords in the known universe. Oh wait, I forgot. We are._

_So, got bored of running yet? Is that why you gave me those coordinates to your location?_ She snapped back smugly.

_What coordinates?_

The smugness the Doctor felt left as soon as it came. She could sense a genuine confusion in his voice and started to regret bringing them up.

_Nothing. Forget I said anything._

_You know me Doctor, never forgive, never forget. But I can assure you, I wouldn’t give up my location to you so easily. Maybe someone’s just sending you on a wild goose chase._

With that, he cut the connection.

The Doctor ran to the stand where she’d placed the note and studied it yet again, looking for something she may have missed, but found nothing.

She almost drove herself crazy looking at that piece of paper, to the point where she wanted to tear it up and forget about it completely.

If they’re not the coordinates for where the Master is, then where would they take us? She thought, before giving up on finding answers and falling asleep.

The next morning the Doctor felt a lot more refreshed, and a plan had begun forming in her mind.

“What’s happening then?” Ryan asked over breakfast. “Are the coordinates really where the Master is? Are we gonna go looking there for him?”

“I don’t think he’d give up his location to me – to us – that easily. But there’s no harm in looking.”

She smiled around at her friends. Her fam.

“We can drop you two off back on Earth if you like, you don’t have to come with us.”

“Nah, sounds fun.” Cece said.

“Maybe not fun, more dangerous. But still not something I’d like to miss. That is, if you’ll have us.” Evie added, quickly.

“Welcome to the fam.” She Doctor replied. “The name will not change so don’t complain about it.”

She smiled cheekily and ran to the TARDIS controls. The (thankfully still entact) coordinates sat where she’d left them, she snatched them up and inputted them quickly then pulled a lever, taking them into the unknown.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> these chapters are actually getting worse :( i promise something interesting will happen soon


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for 1000 reads on this!! you guys are awesome :)

The moment the TARDIS landed, the Doctor could tell something was wrong. Really wrong. The air felt thick and smelt very strongly of fish.

“Maybe we should proceed with caution.” She replied. Proceeding with caution wasn’t something she’d normally do, she was always one for charging into things head first.

They walked out onto a metal platform, suspended high above what looked like rows and rows of cells.

The Doctor took her sonic out of her pocket and scanned around, looking for signs of where they were.

“Hang on a minute, that can’t be right.” She said, looking at the readings. “We’re in…”

“Freeze! Drop your weapons and put your hands by your head. We have you surrounded.”

The fam jumped in shock, worriedly following the orders.

“What’s happening?” Evie whispered.

“You have entered the jurisdiction of the Zenulia police, you are all under arrest.”

“Ey?” The Doctor protested, as the guards dragged them away from the TARDIS. “Hold on we haven’t done anything!”

“The information regarding your arrest is confidential. Your sentence is yet to be made.”

The guards throw the fam in a cell together, before locking it and marching away.

“What the heck is happening?” Yaz asked, pacing around.

“I think we’ve been tricked. I don’t think the Master’s here.” The Doctor said. The guard had taken her sonic, so she couldn’t scan the cell or any of her friends to see what was going on. Or play a game of snake to calm her nerves.

So instead, she shut her eyes and concentrated.

_Contact_ **.**

_Got yourself in a bit of a pickle eh? Need my help? Yet again._ She could feel the Master's smugness through their link.

_Cut the crap. Where are you?_

_As I have told you already Doctor, I am not wherever you think I am. I am free as a bird._

_Why did you lure us to a prison?_

_Hold on, you’re in a prison? What did you do?_

_Nothing. I followed some coordinates that were supposed to take me to wherever you are but they brought us here instead. Now we’re prisoners because they think we’ve committed a really bad crime. But I think they’re lying because they won’t tell me what crime we’ve supposedly committed._

She stopped, taking a deep breath. She can tell she’s babbling, a habit she falls into when she’s nervous.

_Please, Master. I could really use your help right now._

_I’ll think about it. Maybe. Only because I’d rather you be my prisoner than theirs._

He cuts the connection, leaving the Doctor back in her own mind.

“Where is he? What are we here for?” Ryan demanded.

“He’s not here.” The Doctor sighed, rubbing her temples. “We’ve got no choice but to wait it out until someone can come help us.”

“What? So you just expect us to wait out our sentences for crimes we didn’t commit?” Yaz asked. “We need to get out of here.”

“I don’t see anyway we can escape. We’ve got no choice but to stay here.”

“Who knows, it might be a nice adventure or something.” Evie said. The fam turned to look at her quizzically. “Okay maybe not fun. But I’m really struggling to see a positive side here. We need a plan.”

“I think we should just wait it out until someone comes, then we can see who’s lured us here, what they want with us and what crimes they think we’ve committed. Then we can find a way to prove our innocence.”

“Sounds like a good plan.” Graham replied, smiling hopefully.

The fam sat in silence for hours before the guards return, worrying about the situation.

After what felt like forever, a burly looking guard unlocked their cell and dragged them to their feet.

“You need to follow me to be processed.” He said, clicking handcuffs to each of their wrists.

The fam frog marched behind him down several corridors and up and down various staircases, before finally joining the queue of criminals waiting to be processed.

“I really hate this.” Ryan muttered, looking around worriedly.

“Don’t worry son, we’ll be out of here soon.” Graham replied, patting his grandson’s shoulder. 

The Doctor felt horrible, for leading them into such danger. After a few more minutes of waiting, another strong looking guard approached the group and pulled Cece aside.

“How stupid do you think we are?” He asked her rhetorically.

“Do you want an honest answer or the truth?” She replied, smirking slightly.

The guard snarled at her, whirling her around and violently pulling something from the back of her neck. She winced in pain slightly, as he pushed her to the back of the line.

“Now I guess we’ll have to see who you really are.” 

“Hang on what? What’s happening here? Who is she? Or who isn’t she? And what was that thing on her?” The Doctor had a million questions, and the guard was ignoring all of them. Instead, he pushed her into a scanning chamber, where she was scanned and tagged.

The chamber was a medium sized room, where the criminal stood on one side of a glass partition and was scanned by a light to determine their identity, species, planet of origin (or home planet) and criminal activity.

“Name; the Doctor. Species; time lord. Planet of origin; Gallifrey. Crimes; disclosed.” The guard barked, slapping a electric tag onto her. “This tag is a tracker, so we know where you are at all times. Any attempt at escape will trigger your immediate execution.”

The Doctor knew better than to argue. She stepped aside as the rest of her friends went through the chamber, all pretty much the same.

“Name; Ryan Sinclair. Species; human. Planet of origin; Earth. Crimes; undisclosed.”

“Name; Graham O’Brien. Species; human. Planet of origin; Earth. Crimes; undisclosed.”

“Aliases; Yaz. Name; Yasmin Khan. Species; human. Planet of origin; Earth. Crimes; undisclosed.”

They were all pushed through and waited with the Doctor.

“I can’t believe this is happening.” Yaz muttered. “I’m a police officer, not a criminal.”

“Something smells really fishy around here, and it’s not just the air.” The Doctor said, wishing she had her sonic so she could have a scan.

“Name; Evie Brown. Species; human. Planet of origin; Earth. Crimes; undisclosed.” The computer barked as the guard pushed her through.

“I’m so sorry this has happened.” The Doctor said to her. 

“Don’t worry, this is the most fun I’ve ever had.” She replied, grinning. “Beats working in a corner café any day.”

“So, what’s the plan. How are we getting out of here?” Yaz asked.

“I guess we’re just gonna have to live out our sentences?” 

“No. We’re going to get out of here alive.” The Doctor smiled at her friends. “Never lose hope.”

Finally Cece was pushed through the chamber and the lazer-like light scanned her.

“Aliases; Cece Kent. Name; Elspen Alban. Planet of origin; Gallifrey. Species; Gallifreyan. Crimes; undisclosed.”


	6. Chapter 6

The Doctor stood staring for a moment, unsure of how to process the information. It wasn’t possible. It couldn’t be possible. Yet here it was, as real as the day. Her friends hadn’t seemed to notice, they had enough on their minds.

“Come on blondie, back to your cell.” The guard said, roughly pushing her back down the corridor. She yelped slightly and tripped over her boot, falling into the arms of another guard.

“Gods sake Doctor, I know you love me but there’s no need to throw yourself at me.”

She looked up to see the Master, grinning like the Cheshire cat.

“I don’t love you.” She snarled, regaining her balance and standing up. “I just don’t hate you all of the time.”

“There a problem here Mr Gelthrop?” The guard said to the Master. 

“Nothing of your concern guard, take the prisoners back to their cells.” He said, pushing the Doctor away.

_I’ll get you out of this dump._ He said into her mind. _Because then I’ll have you all to myself._

She shuddered at the thought. _Go to hell. But first get us out of here._

“You feeling okay Doc? You look like you’ve seen a ghost or sum’ thing.” Graham said

“I feel extremely betrayed thanks for asking Graham.” She replied, sending a cold glare in not-Cece’s direction. She merely laughed in response. 

Graham gulped slightly, not quite knowing what was happening. Thankfully, the dinner bell sounded and he sighed in relief. The cell unlocked automatically, allowing the prisoners to get their daily meal.

“Thank god for that, I’m starving.” Graham said, jumping up and practically sprinting down the corridor towards the lunch hall.

“We better go with him.” Ryan said, standing up. “Knowing him he’d get his head bitten off by an alien for sitting in the wrong place. Anyone else coming?”

“I’m not really hungry thanks.” Not-Cece said.

Evie and Yaz followed him out, leaving the Doctor and Not-Cece alone in the cell together.

The two Gallifreyan’s stood in silence for a moment, not meeting each other’s eyes.

“I honestly don’t know what to say to you. I have a million questions.” The Doctor said, leaning back onto the wall.

“I understand. The Master said your tiny brain wouldn’t be able to understand me if we ever met.” She replied, chuckling slightly.

“Wait you know the Master?”

“Duh. How else do you think I got to Earth?” 

“Okay, okay. Just start from the beginning. How you got to Earth.” The Doctor pushed her hand through her tangled hair. “Because I’m really struggling to understand this”

“I realise that. So when the Master found me I was in my last years at the academy, about a decade away from graduation. I was really bored of studying the same old stuff over and over again so I skipped a lesson and went wandering outside the campus. After a while I found the cavern and figured out how to get in.”

The cavern was a place Theta and Koschei had first found back when they were at the academy. They had spent all their free time in there; doing homework, studying, reading, messing about. When it came time for them to graduate they hid the cavern from view and wrote down clues of how to get it open for the next person to find.

“When I got back to the academy my friends wanted to know where I’d been so I told them all about what I’d found. But all my so-called friends turned against me when I refused to tell them how to get in and threatened me. They wanted to throw parties full of alcohol and drugs and well, illegal stuff. I didn’t want them to it there because I knew they wouldn’t get caught but I wanted them to, because it was wrong. So when I still wouldn’t tell them how to get in they knifed me and left me for dead.”

The Doctors eyes widened.

“The Master must’ve been feeling nostalgic before he blew everything up, because he came and found me. I don’t think he wanted to help me but I forced him to. Projected my pain into this head until he couldn’t bear it anymore. He took me to his TARDIS and told me to rest whilst he carried on with his plan. When he came back he explained it to me and told me I could stay with him and travel the universes, or stay on Gallifrey and perish. I obviously chose to stay with him.”

The Doctor looked quite taken aback. 

“Why did he leave you on Earth then?” She asked. “Why would he take you from one place just to dump you on another?”

“I’m not really sure to be honest.” She replied. “But he told me all about you and his plan with MI6 and I didn’t really have any choice of what to do. He told me once he’d cracked the human population he’d come back for me. But his plan failed and so he never did. When you came crashing into the café it was a stroke of good luck for me. I know you’ve been searching for the Master and you probably thought the traces of artron energy on me was him.”

“Well what about the note? The coordinates? Why did you bring us to one of the highest security prisons in this galaxy?”

“I didn’t. I was as confused as you when Mrs Jackson wrote that down. All I know is that something weird is going on here, and we need to figure out what it is.”

The two Gallifreyans wandered down the corridors, attempting to find a way out.

“Doctor, you do realise this is a prison? They’re not going to have an abundance of well signposted exits.” Not-Cece said, trying to stay inconspicuous. 

“We’re not looking for an exit. We’re looking for the dining hall so we can get our friends and then find my TARDIS.” The Doctor replied. “I’m not completely daft.”

There was also the niggling of the Master at the back of her mind. He’d said he’d help her get out, but so far hadn’t done more than pose as a superior guard and throw them into a cell.

“Your thoughts are loud.” Not-Cece said. “I’m sure he’ll help us. Actually I’m sure he won’t. Come on let’s just go find the others and then come up with a plan.”

“Okay then, what’s the plan?” Yaz asked. They’d found each other and regrouped in a closed off corridor. “We need to find how to escape this place.”

“Why would you want to escape?” A voice said behind the group, making them all jump. “I presume one of you is the Doctor?”

“That would be me.” The Doctor said. “Who might you be?”

“Why Doctor, you sound almost rude. Please, all of you, join me in my office.” He said, smiling menacingly. He snapped his fingers and the extended-fam were teleported into a large office.

“My name is Daltringham. I am the one in charge of this prison, and all others under the Zenulia name. I know all about you and your ways of saving those in trouble and I don’t like that. You are here under my orders so you can’t stop me taking over the universe.”

The Doctor blinked, trying to understand what the heck was going on.

“However, I have come to find that you are a group of sanctimonious idiots, so instead of imprisoning you, perhaps I should think of a more permanent punishment.”

He grinned manically and began pacing around the room.

“You can’t kill us.” The Doctor panted as her breath began to shake. “Zenulia laws banned the death penalty in the 400th rotation of Jhosentine. You can’t kill us.”

“Of course not, there’s no fun in that.” He stopped pacing and wandered towards the Doctor. “Something more personal would torture you a whole lot more.”

Before the Doctor had a chance to reply, Daltringham placed his fingers on her temples and reached out into her mind. He barged around like a bull in a china shop, looking for something he could use against her.

He settled on the memory of Gallifrey, it’s once beautiful fields of red grass burnt to a crisp leaving only ashes behind.

“I believe I’ve found something.” He snarled. “Something worse than the death penalty. I won’t being seeing you again. Hope you have a horrible and painful death.”

He snapped his fingers loudly and the group of friends disappeared in a bright flash of light. 

They tumbled through a void of space and time, screaming and shouting for help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i feel like too much happened in this chapter lol


End file.
